World Games: Day 10 — Canada Shocks U.S., Iroquois Wins First Medal

It would not be an overstatement to say that no one gave Team Canada a chance against the U.S. in Saturday's gold medal game at the FIL World Championships. The Americans came in averaging nearly 18 goals a game, winning more than 80% of their face-offs and holding opponents to less than five goals in a 6-0 run through the tournament.

The question wasn't whether Team USA would win, but whether they would blow out Canada at DICK's Sporting Goods Park in the fifth straight world championship final between the two rivals.

But there were two elements that came up in conversations with fans, coaches and analysts over the last few days in Denver that gave Canada a chance. One was whether the U.S. coming into the final without any close games could hurt them, should Canada make it interesting. The second, and sturdier point, was that fans shouldn't underestimate the emotion and passion Canada has in playing for former teammates Chris Sanderson and Kyle Miller, who both succumbed to battles with cancer since playing for Team Canada in the 2010 world games in Manchester, England.

Canada displayed grit, and a crisp gameplan, in shocking Team USA on Saturday in front of 11,861 fans, winning 8-5 to take their third gold medal in the World Championship, dating back to their 1978 upset of Canada in England. Canada's last gold came in 2006, when Geoff Snider and Brodie Merrill, both leaders of this team, helped the Canadians surprise the U.S. in London, Ontario.

Middie Kevin Crowley, who had just three goals coming into the final, put up five against Team USA, while middie Jordan Hall added two assists, doubling his tournament output for helpers. Snider won 7-of-14 face-offs against the USA duo of Chris Eck and Greg Gurenlian, as Canada won the groundball battle 35-22.

Canada broke the game open in the third quarter after leading a slow first half 3-1. And once the Canadians were able to build a lead, they took advantage of the international rules and slowed the game down to strangle possession, earning them a cascade of boos from the crowd and plenty of biting comments on social media. The U.S. mounted a fourth quarter comeback, scoring three straight to cut Canada's lead to 8-5 with 6:24 remaining, but they weren't able to carry that momentum any further.

Goalie Dillon Ward, the MVP of the tournament, posted 10 saves for Canada, and more importantly earned Sanderson's jean jacket as the team's Player of the Game. The jacket was sent by Sanderson's wife to Merrill and it's been given out throughout the tournament after each game. The 23-year-old Ward's first lacrosse goalie camp was Sanderson's.

“Out of everything I've won today, this is the most important to me,” said Ward, who had a .627 save percentage coming into the final. “To be able to wear this right now is unbelievable. It just means so much to me.”

Ward, and many Canada players, credited defensive coordinator Taylor Wray with much of the title game win. The St. Joseph's head coach and longtime Team Canada and NLL defender mixed in zone looks and slid early to the U.S. stars, at times shutting off Paul Rabil with a shortstick. The U.S. came into the game averaging 48 shots per game but managed just 30 on Saturday, with midfield leaders like Dave Lawson and Rabil (who had 42 points combined in the tournament) not registering any points.

“We knew we had to mix things up to keep them on their toes,” said Wray. “The guys bought in and executed really well and made plays. When they made doubles, they put the ball on the ground and fought for the groundballs.”

Canada head coach Randy Mearns took aside Crowley before the final, telling him how important he is for the team. And while the Canadians got to the gold medal game on the strength of attackmen Curtis Dickson, Mark Matthews, Adam Jones and Jeremy Noble (80 combined points), midfielders Crowley, Hall and Cam Holding combined for six goals and three assists in the final.

“Big players step up in big games,” Canada offensive coordinator Matt Brown said when asked about the breakout game by Crowley, Major League Lacrosse's MVP last year.

During their first off day on Wednesday after Canada earned a bye into the semifinals, the team was loose and unconcerned with their 10-7 opening loss to the U.S. Lacking the training camp time that Team USA had, the Canadians were treating this 10-day event as a learning process to build chemistry and figure out their lineup. The biggest difference on Saturday likely was the dichotomy between the U.S. coming in as the overwhelming favorites and Canada relishing the underdog role.

“What we said before the game was we have nothing to lose,” said Ward. “USA was coming in with all this hype and everyone was expecting them to win. No one expected us to win, so we had nothing to lose and they had everything to lose. We just had to play loose and execute.”

More than thirty years after the formation of the Iroquois Nationals, the team earned its first medal at the FIL World Lacrosse Championships after defeating Australia 16-5 Saturday afternoon in Denver, Colorado.

Benefitting from their first day off since the beginning of the tournament on Friday, the Iroquois came out with their best overall performance of the tournament, holding the Australians to just five goals, just three in the first half and two in the second. And the offense had one of its best performances, with the Thompson brothers — Jeremy, Hiana, Miles and Lyle — combining for six goals and five assists.

Lyle Thompson finished with two goals and two assists and Miles Thompson finished with three goals and an assist. Randy Staats finished with three goals, while Zach Miller and defensive midfielder Mike Lazore each contributed two goals.

The Australians were led by Anson Carter’s four goals.

Iroquois goalie Warren Hill, one of the tournament’s most outstanding netminders, made 11 saves in 67 minutes before Marty Ward filled in, making four saves of his own.

Iroquois head coach Steve Beville said the day off Friday proved to be a huge benefit to his players, which only reiterated what a boon it would have been for the Nationals to beat Canada in the round-robin matchup — a 9-8 loss — and earn a bye to the semifinals.

The rest helped the Iroquois come out firing, never trailing as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter and then a 6-3 lead at the half. After Australia scored two of the first four goals of the third quarter, the Iroquois would close out the game with an incredible eight-goal run that saw seven different goal scorers, two coming from Staats.

The Nationals also played some of their sharpest defense, committing only three fouls and causing six turnovers.

“You could feel it and you could see it,” Beville said. “It was just critical to get a day of rest and it showed today. It showed how important it is to get just a little bit of rest with this format. I’m proud of these guys, they were still dead tired. Believe me.”

“Even though we were fresher, the bottom line is you just have to have it in you to do what they did,” he continued. “It was an impressive performance overall throughout the 12, 14 days we were here. I couldn’t be prouder of our group of guys. I think the future is even brighter for this group with all these young guys and the other guys coming up. Watch out in 2018.”

Brett Bucktooth, who played for the Iroquois Nationals in 2006 and a cousin to the Thompsons, realized after the game that he was involved in an historical achievement for his people. A member of the bronze-winning Iroquois Nationals U19 team in 19999 before he attended Syracuse, Bucktooth has seen first hand the development of the organization, which was put on hold when the team missed the 2010 world gams in England.

“Making history,” Bucktooth said following the win. “The Iroquois Nationals have been doing better each year. It started with the U19 team in 1999 in Australia. We got the bronze then. Then the U19s in Finland a couple years ago got the bronze. Then the men’s team got bronze, so we’re just getting better each year. A lot of thanks and nyawenha’ goes out to Oren Lyons and his staff for putting this team together and really making things happen for us.”

Assistant coach Mark Burnam, another Syracuse alum and a five-time member of the Iroquois Nationals from 1990 to 2006, was a staff member in 2010. He said the situation for the Nationals is vastly different than it was in the early days.

“I can tell you this: in 1990, we had three Division I guys on the team that I remember, maybe four,” Burnam said. “We had a couple DII guys. Right now you look at us, you’ve got numerous DI guys playing. Not all of them, but probably a good percentage played college lacrosse. Our knowledge of the game 20 years later just from experience and having U19 teams, which we didn’t have then, has obviously added to the value of the team.”

The bronze medal is a monumental accomplishment for the Iroquois community. But the win also comes against a team that has a history with the Iroquois Nationals. Prior to this year, the Australian national team had medaled at each FIL World Lacrosse Championship going back to 1967. Australia had defeated the Iroquois to win the bronze medal in three straight tournaments — 1998, 2002 and 2006.

Australia head coach Glenn Meredith said he and his players have lots of respect for the Iroquois Nationals staff and players, adding that it was “sad for the game” when the Iroquois weren’t participating in 2010.

“I said to the guys as we were shaking their hands that it’s fantastic they’re back here because they’re terrific,” Meredith said. “They’re enormously talented, and from the two games we played them, they seem like really nice guys as well. They gave us a little bit of a lesson in lacrosse today because we were a bit flat.”

Despite challenges for lacrosse in Australia, Meredith hopes the teams can continue their rivalry, one that’s flown under the radar as Team USA and Canada tend to overshadow the rest.

“We’re struggling with the numbers. We’ve dropped from about 15,000 to about 4,000 now. So we have to get our hats in order in Australia to start producing some better quality players in that regard, not taking anything away from the guys that are here. But obviously when your numbers dwindle the top line players dwindle. So we’ve noticed that. … I know it’s only two minutes after the last game in Denver, but I’m already looking forward to building the program again. If I’m lucky enough to be involved again it’d be an honor to play these guys again.”

While Australia is faced with declining participation numbers, the Iroquois Nationals are riding a wave of growth and development of high-profile players, headlined by 2014 Tewaaraton co-winners Miles an Lyle Thompson.

Like Beville, Bucktooth believes the future has a lot of success in store for the program, which started 31 years ago with a conversation between Lyons and his former teammate Roy Simmons Jr.

“You see the young guys rise up, like Warren Hill — probably the best goaltender in the world — Lyle Thompson, Miles, Zach Miller, Randy Staats, young guys stepping up and really making things happen for us today,” Bucktooth said. “The Iroquois Nationals are in good hands with those guys at the helm, so it’s going to be exciting to exciting to watch them.”

England Holds off Scotland, 15-13

It was a comeback fit for a rivalry.

After a tight first half that went to the locker room with England leading 7-6, coach Matt Bagley’s team exploded over the next 33 minutes, opening up a 15-9 lead with about 5:00 remaining, helped in large part by a goal and an assist from England attackman Nick Watson and two goals from Aaron Prosser. So confident was England that they’d secured a fifth-place finish that they replaced goalie Ben McAllister, who’d made 12 saves to that point, to an ovation from the crowd.

The Scots weren’t done, however. Jordan McBride scored his fifth goal of the game to spark a run, then middie Resham Panesar scored a man-down goal with 2:30 remaining. When Jesse Fehr scored 10 seconds later, it was clear England was on the ropes, despite leading 15-13. Just 19 seconds later, Matthew Carey scored to cut the lead to 15-13.

England won the subsequent draw and after briefly working the ball around, took a one-on-one shot that Scotland keeper Ethan Harris saved. England attackman Joshua Roden was called for a push on the ride with 1:22, and Scotland looked to have life with the ball on extra-man, down two and more than a minute to go.

Back in the crease, McAllister made his last save of the game and then drew an illegal body check from Carey going for a loose ball behind the crease. Even strength and with the ball with 1:01 to go, England was able to kill the clock and start their celebration.

For the English National Team, the Scotland win concluded a redemptive finish to the tournament, which they started 0-5, were outscored 58-8 by the U.S., Canada and Iroquois and suffered a devastating overtime loss to Japan to finish last in pool play on Tuesday. The Three Lions showed impressive fortitude in rebounding for a 15-3 win over Germany in which 11 players registered a point and goalie Ben McAllister made 13 saves while letting in one goal. England followed that up with an impressive overtime win over Israel to maintain its Blue Division status for 2018 in Manchester, then sealed the run with the win over Scotland today.

“We came [to Denver] wanting to get a medal and obviously got off to a rough start, so we’re just happy to get our fifth place back,” Watson said.

For Scotland, it was the end of an impressive tournament that saw them finish 6-2, put a scare into the Iroquois on Wednesday and clinch a Blue Division spot for the 2018 World Championships in Manchester. In beating Japan on Thursday, the Scots became the first “non-traditional entrant” into the Blue Division since its inception (Germany finished sixth twice — in 1998 and 2010; the Blue Division format wasn’t fully implemented with 11 teams participating in ’98, and the Iroquois’ absence in 2010 impacted the Germans’ Blue Division status) and guaranteed improvement on the 7th place finished they’d attain three previous times.—TERRY FOY